Power transmission



Dec. 1'27, 1938. c. ANDERSON. JR 2,141,234

I (POWER TRANSMISSION Original Filed April 2, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 CkarZes J/imzer w wr ATTORNEY mvsmon 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 unmum IIIIHHII INVENTOR ATTORNEY 27, 1938. c. J. ANDERSON. JR

POWER TRANSMISSION Original Filed April 2, 1934 Dec. 27; T938. I c. J. ANDERSON. JR 2,141,234v

POWER TRANSMISSION I ori inal Filed April 2, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Charles Jnafiers'o n; .75:

ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1933. c. J. ANDERSON. JR 2,141,234

POWER TRANSMISSION 4 sheets sheet 4 Original Filed April 2, 1954 I 1 l N VENTOR \Zfide Q ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 27, 1938 UNITED ST TES PATENT orrlcs f Application April 2, 1934, Serial No. 118,72:

' Renewed October 7, 1937 3 Claims.

This invention relates to power transmissions of the type particularly adapted for use in automoti've vehicles'and to a novel manner of operatively connecting the power transmission to a motor, and to the manner of mounting the same in a frame, such as that of a motor-vehicle, for the purpose of eliminating the transmission of vibrations to the frame, as well as to an arrangement for eliminating to a large extent vibration which would otherwise be produced within the transmission itself. v 1 l I There are many examples of continuously variable power transmissions which operate by transferring energy from a motor to a driven element in a series of rapid intermittent energyimpulses at varying ratios of torque between the motor and the driven member. All such transmissions heretofore produced are known to be more or v less rough" in their operation inasmuch as the intermittent impulses produced upon the driven member set up corresponding reactions in the stationary portions of the transmission which lead to exceedingly annoying vibrations, especially when such transmissions are used in motor vehicles. The present invention provides a manner of reducing the amount of vibration produced by these intermittent torque reactions and preferably may be said to embrace the dividing up of the output torque between two driven'members, for example, two traction wheels of a vehicle, and the staggering of the torque impulses delivered to one driven member between those delivered to the other. The transmission of any remaining vibrations which may be produced from the transmission to the frame is further eliminated by mounting the transmission in such a manner that it may freely oscillate about an axis parallel to the axis about which the impulses of torque reaction are produced, and, in

order to reduce the amplitude of oscillation of the transmission about this axis, means may be provided for increasing the moment of inertia of the transmission, for example, by the mounting of the motor adjacent to the transmission and on the opposite side of the axis of oscillation thereof. The invention also aims to provide a novel combined motor aridtransmission unit in which simple and reliable mechanism is provided I for transmitting power from the motor to the transmission without the use of gearing.

Other objects include the provision of a novel motion converting mechanism for converting rotary motion about one axis into non-synchronous oscillatory motion of two independent members about a common axis at right angles to the first mentioned axis and to provide generally a more satisfactory, reliable and economical construction for delivering power to a driven member at varying torques without the production of annoying vibrations.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following 'description,- reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a top view of a portion of a motor vvehicle chassis embodying the preferred form of line 2-4 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a crank forming a portion of the present mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a preferred layout of cran'ks and connecting rods;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a modified layout of cranks and connecting rods;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of another modified layout of cranks and connecting rods;

Fig. 9 is a top view partly in cross section of a modification of theinvention;

Fig. 10 is a crosssection taken on line Ill-40 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a cross section taken on line ll--H of Fig. 9; v

Fig. 12 is a. view corresponding to Fig. 11 with the parts in another position;

Fig. 13-15 a top view partly in cross section of Referring now to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a 7 motor vehicle havinga chassis frame 2 of any suitable construction, which is supported by means of a suitable spring suspension. I upon a pair of traction wheels 6. A combined motor and transmission unit, generally designated as l0, and comprising a motor portion I2 and a transmission portion l I, is pivotally' mounted upon theframe 2 by means of a pair of resilient mountings l6, preferably of the type including an element of rubber to give the mounting resilience. The unit is'mounted in the'frame in such a position that the transmission portion i4 is located interomitted for the sake of clearness.

mately on their axis of rotation, although it may be located somewhat above or below this axis, as may be necessitated by considerations of ground clearance and other factors in the design of a particular vehicle. The location of the resilient mountings I6 is such that they will permit oscillation of the unit as a whole about an axis through V the center of gravity of the unit and preferably parallel to the axis of the wheels 6. A pair of flexible shafts 18 are connected to join the driven parts of the transmission with each wheel 5 and may preferably be .formed of rubber, although other forms of flexible shafting may be used, such as a section of rigid shaftingjoined by a universal joint at either end to the transmission and to the wheel and including a splined section.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown the internal mechanism of the motor transmission unit, certain necessary portions of the motor which form no part of the present invention being 24 there is formed a journal for the main bearings 25, beyond which there is formed conventional crank throws 28 for the two end cylinders and ending 'at either end in a pair of main bearings 38. Connecting rods 32 of any suitable type connect the crank shaft 28 to the pistons of the motor. The main frame of the unit may include a motor block casting 84 extending as far down as the horizontal plane of the crank shaft and carrying the main bearings inthe usual manner, and includes a lateral extension 38 which forms a portion of the housing and support for the transmission mechanism. Journaled in bearings 88 in the extension 88 are a pairof shafts 48 connected at one end of each with the flexible shafts l8 and connected at their other ends inside the housing 35 with a combination inertia member anddriven part of a one-way clutch 42, the internal, construction of the one-way clutch forming no part of the present invention and being of any desired type, numerous examples of 48 extending upwardly while the crank 48 extends which are well known, and further description of which is unnecessary. The driving portion of the one-way clutches includes a pair of shafts 44 rigidly connected to a pair of cranks 48, 48, crank downwardly from the shafts 44. Connecting rods 88, 52, connect betweenthe crank pin 22 and the cranks 48 and 48, respectively. A central reinforcing rib 54 is formed in the main housing member 84 and extends downwardly into the lateral extension 28 to support the bearing 58 forv the adjacent inner ends of the shafts 44 (see Fig. 4). Counterbalances 58 may be provided for counterbalancing each of the crank members in the mechanism in the well known manner. A bottom and side cover member 58 is bolted to the casting 84 to form a closure for the motor transmission unit, within which a body of oil may be kept and pumped to the various bearing surfaces in a manner well known in the art for lubrication.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that as the pistons are reciprocated vertically in their cylinders in the well known manner, rotation of the crank shaft 28 in the direction of the arrow will result. The connecting rods 50 and 52 will produce oscillation of the cranks 48 and 48 in the direction of the arrows indicated thereon, due

The crank 2,141,284 mediate the wheels 8 and preferably approxito the fact that the crank 48 extends generally in the opposite direction of the crank 48, and inasmuch as the throw of the cranks 48 and 48 is greater than the throw of the crank pin 22 the crank shaft 28 may rotate unidirectionally and still maintain the angular motion of the cranks 45 and 48 materially under Considering the one-way clutches 42 to be constructed or, if manually controllable, adjusted so that they will engage only on rotation of the drive shafts 44 in the direction of forward rotation of the wheels 6 (counterclockwise in Fig. 2), it will be seen that during approximately one-half a revolution of nately to each driven element 42a of the oneway clutches and that while crank 461s delivering energy to its driven element 42a the crank 48 is returning in the opposite direction of rotation and,

' due to the one-way action of the clutch 42, is not delivering energy theretoexcept as noted later. The same is true of the crank 45 while the crank 48 delivers energy to its one-way clutch. Since 4 in the illustrated construction the flexible shafts l8 are formed of rubber or other torsionally resilient material, the driven elements 42a of the one-way clutches are of such inertia in respect to the force displacement characteristics of the shaft l8 that energy is delivered to the wheels 8 at automatically and continuously variable ratios between the torque delivered to the wheels. and the torque applied by the crank shaft 28. Considering the operation of the energy delivering mechanism for one wheel only, the operation of the other being substantially the same, it will be seen that with any given torque requirement at the wheel and with the motor idling. oscillation of the shaft 44 will on its forward stroke move the driven member 42a of the.one-way clutch with it throughout the full stroke and torsionally stress the shaft l8, but not sufficiently to move the wheel 6. On the back stroke of the shaft 44 the stress of the shaft l8 will urge the driven member 42a back with the shaft 44 since the oscillation is relatively slow 'at idling speeds of the motor and thus as long as the motor speed is notincreased the driven member 42a will follow exactly the oscillations of the shaft 44. However, when the motorspeed is increased the torsionalstress of the shaft l8 when the shaft 44 and driven element 42a are at the end of their forward stroke will not be'suflicient to move the driven element 42a back as rapidly as shaft 44 is moved back by the connecting rod 58 and so on the beginning of the next forward stroke the oneway clutch will engage the driven element 420.

. qulrements at the wheel 8,'the last mentioned phase of operation will continue until the stress of the shaft I8 is suflicient to move the driven element 42a back atthe same speed that conmeeting rod 50 moves the shaft 44 back. As the motor speed is further increased, the shaft 44 again moves back faster than shaft I8 can move mediately above.

' that required to overcome the torque requirements of the wheel, power will continue to be delivered in intermittent impulses of torque applied to the shaft l8 by the shaft 44 acting through the driven element of the one-way, clutch 42.

Considering the power delivery mechanism for. both wheels now, it will be seenthat energy impulses are delivered to the power delivery mechanism for each wheel alternately. Noting that the flexible shafts i8 are capable of transmitting to the transmission mechanism only torsional force about the axis of the shafts 44 and that the shafts II and the resilient mountings i8 are the only points at which external forces can beepplied to the motor transmission unit as a whole, it is ap arent that, neglecting inertia forces which m y be substantially canceled by effective counterbalancing as illustrated, the only external forces. are the alternate reactive couples produced onthe casing of the unit by the impulses applied to the shafts I 8. It is well known that a free body when acted upon by a purely torsional force will partake only of rotary motion about its center of gravity. It is also known that when the couple acting on such a free body is altemately reversed in direction the body will partake of an oscillation, the amplitude of which will remain constant, depending on' the moment of inertia of the free body in relation to the magnitude of the couple.

Considering now the motor transmissionunit as a whole it will be seen that since it is mounted for substantially unrestrained oscillation about an axis through its center of gravity parallel tothe axis of the shafts I8 the alternately reversing couples of reactive torque will produce aresultant oscillation of the unit as a whole aboutthe axis of the mountings Hi. It will be noted that during the period before wheels 8 start to move and immediately thereafter when vibration in .the usual impulse type of continuously variable power transmission is the worst, due to reverse reactive torque impulses being set up between the periods of forward reactive torque impulses and substantially equal thereto. vibration in the present device will be substantially eliminated. This is due to the fact that while one shaft. i 8 is receiving a forward torque impulse and delivering an equal reactive torque impulse to the unit as a whole the opposite shaft l8 will be delivering backto'the transmission an equal torque impulse and setting up an equal reactive torque impulse on the transmission as a whole. but inthe opposite direction. This action produces a transmission which is inherently freer from reactive vibration than other impulse type transmissions wherein power is delivered either to a single output member or to a plurality of output members in simultaneous impulses, Furthermore, under conditions where the staggered reactive impulses do not quite cancel each other the transmission "of the resultant vibration to the vehicle or other frame to which the unit is mounted-is completely prevented. due to the resilient mountings l8 which permit the vibration to .be absorbed in the oscillation of the unit as a whole about an axis through its center l of gravity.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated a slightly modified construction of the crank shaft which approximates the form widely used in four-cylinder engines having three main bearings and in which the two center crank pins are utilized for operating the connecting rods 50 and 52 as well as for t the usual piston connecting rods.

Fig. 8 shows a further modified form in which it may be desirable to have both cranks 48 and 48 extend generally in the same direction away from the shafts 44. In this construction staggering of the impulses delivered from the transmission is accomplished by providing additional crank throw 88 spaced 180 from the two center crank throws and operating one connecting rod 82, while the other connecting rod 88 is' operated from one of the middle throws of the crank shaft, which also carries a piston connecting rod. Obviously, many other arrangements maybe provided and engines of a less or greater number of cylinders may be used.

In Figs. 9-12, inclusive, there is illustrated a portion of a transmission utilizing mechanism for delivering power to the one-way clutches in stag: gered impulses and which is operated from a driving shaft, which may be the engine crank shaft, at right angles to the axis of the one-way clutch shaft. This may comprise a housing 84 having journaled therein at opposite sides a pair of one-way clutches 88 connected outside the housing to flexible shafts 88 in a manner analogous to that previously describiad. Journaled in the housing 84 about an axis at right angles thereto is a shaft 10 having formed thereon inside thehousi'ng 64 a series of journals l2 and I4 inclined at an angle to the axis of shaft 10. The journals 12 are inclined at an equal angle to the journals 14, but are preferably angularly spaced about the axis of the shaft iii by one-half a revolution. The journals 1! are also farther spaced-from each other than the journals 14. Each one-way clutch 88 has a drive shaftlii, 18, having a bifurcated end. Each end carries a pair of journals 80, 82. which are at right angles to the axis of the shafts 78, i8. and lie in a common plane with the axis of the shaft Ill. The journals iii! are farther spaced from the axis of shaft 18 than the journals 82 are spaced from the axis of shaft It. A small inner split circular yoke 84. having four bearings 90 apart thereon-joins the journals 14 to the journals 82, while a. larger split circular yoke 80. having four corresponding bearings, joins the journals 80 with the journals 12. Referring now to Figs. 11 and 12. it will be seen that rotation of the shaft 18 in the d rection of the arrow A will cause the yoke 88 to move in the general direction of the arrow B. rotatin withit the journals iiil and the shaft 18. and that the yoke 84 will move in the direction of the arrow 0, rotating with it the journals B2 and the shaft 18. During th s movement the yokes' 84 and 88 will partake of rotation also about the journals 8! and 88, respectively. At the completion of onehalf a revolution the parts will lie in the position shown in Fig. 12.. During the next half revolution the motion of the shafts i8 and 18 will be reversed, bringing them back to their starting positions. It will thus be seen that constant rotation of the shaft 10 will produce oscillation of shafts 7B and 18, the velocity of shaft '16 being always equal to and opposite to that of the shaft (8, and vice versa.

While the parts have been illustrated more or less diagrammatically in order to make their operation more readily understood, it will be seen that the mechanism describedmay be utilized in a power transmission of the type described where it is desired to locate the driving shaft at right angles to the axis of the output shafts. For example, the mechanism of Figs. 9-12, inclusive, may be located intermediate the traction wheels of a vehicle while the motor of the vehicle may be located with its output shaft at right angles to the wheel axis and either at a distance from the housing 64 and connected thereto by the usual propeller shaft, or the motor may be 10- cated directly adjacent to the housing 84. Such a structure is illustrated in Fig. 14, wherein the motor is designated generally as 88, with the housing 64 and its enclosed mechanism located intermediate the ends of the motor. With the motor thus disposed equally on both sides of the axis of the wheels, resilient mountings 90 may be provided for permitting the entire unit to oscillate about its center of-gravity, which in this instance is substantially coincident with the axis of the wheels. Obviously, the mechanism contained in; the housing 64 could'likewise be used with a motor mounted adjacent thereto, -but located wholly on one side of the housing 04, suitable mounting means being provided for permitting oscillation of the unit as a whole about its center of gravity, which would then be spaced from the wheel axis.

In Fig. 13 there is illustrated a, further modification of the invention showing an alternative construction for providing staggered impulses to the power delivering mechanisms operated from a driving shaft at right angles thereto. In this modification the-driving shaft 92 is journaled in a housing 94 and carries on'its end a beveled gear 06. A two-throw crank shaft 08 is also journaled in the housing 94 and is driven from the shaft 02 by a beveled gear I meshing with the beveled gear 05. One-way clutches I02 are journaled in the housing 94 analogously to the construction shown in Fig. 1 and have corresponding cranks I04 operated from the crank shaft 98 by connecting rods I00. The unit described may be mounted on pintles I00 for oscillation about its center of gravity, the transmission of forces other than couples thereto by the shaft 02 being substantially prevented by a universal Joint IIO. Operation of this structure is substantially the same as that illustrated in Fig. 1 except that the crank shaft 00 is driven through the beveled gears 96, I00, by the drive shaft 02 rather than being driven directly by the pistons of the motor, as in Fig; 1.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided a combined motor and transmission unit suitable for motor vehicle use in which the transmission of annoying vibrations to the occupants of a motor vehicle is eliminated, first, by materially reducing the amount of vibration produced in the transmission and, second, by mounting the staggering the power impulses delivered between a pair of driven members.

I claim:

1. In a motor vehicle, a pair of traction wheels, a main frame supported by said wheels, a torsionally-flexible rotary drive-shaft for each of said wheels, power means for variably imparting rapid, intermittent torque impulses alternately to one and the other of said torsionally-flexible drive-shafts, a casing for said power means, said drive-shafts being journaled. on said casing for rotation on a common axis, and means for oscillably mounting said casing upon said main frame, said mounting means being disposed upon an axis ofoscillatory movement parallel to the axis of rotation of said torsionally-fiexible drive shafts and passing through the center of gravity of said casing and its supported power-imparting means.

2. In a motor vehicle, a pair of traction wheels, a main frame supported by said wheels, a torsionally-fiexible rotary drive-shaft for each of said wheels, power means-for variably imparting rapid, intermittent torque impulses alternately to one and the other of said torsionally-flexible drive-shafts, a casing for said power means, said drive shafts being journaled on said casing for rotation on a common axis, and means for oscillably and resiliently mounting said casing upon said main frame, said mounting means being formed of resilient material disposed upon an axis of oscillatory movement parallel to the axis of rotation of said torsionally-flexible drive shafts and passing through the center of gravity of said.

casing and its supported power-imparting means. 3. In a motor vehicle, a pair of traction wheels,

, a main frame supported by said wheels, a torsionally flexible rotary drive-shaft for each of said wheels, said drive-shafts being journaled for rotation upon'a common axis, power means for variably imparting rapid, intermittent torque impulses alternately to one and the other of said torsionally flexible drive-shafts, said power-im-;

supported power-imparting means. M

CHARLES J. ANDERSON, JR. 

